One of my first impressions of Iceland has been the amount of farming particularly by the coast. I thought it would be cold and bleak but have been surprised by the amount of pastoral land, and coming from a harsh NZ winter it seems strange to see all the farmers out making hay. This was a good omen for us as I reckon the farmers would know there was good weather around and they haven’t been wrong. The rural country side is dotted with lime green wrapped bales of balage, set against a backdrop of snow covered mountains it looks pretty cool, excuse the pun!!!!
Although we have seen a fair few sheep (although they look like a cross between a sheep and goat)scattered on some pretty harsh country ( mustering must be a difficult operation) there have been few cattle, dairy or beef to be seen, in fact they have been out numbered by iceland ponies.
During the summer many farms offer homestay accomodation and it would be good to get into the home of a real live Icelandic farming family to find out about farm politics, prices, subsidies?? wintering of their stock, size of their holdings etc.
Many of the farms look tidy & picturesque and their farm machinery looks up to date & modern.
We are hoping for the fine weather to continue as we complete our ride around tour of this unique & interesting country
Roger
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